Scar on the wall of a Roman domus in the Herculaneum excavations. The perpetrator was a Dutch tourist who was immediately identified by security personnel and reported by the police. The 27-year-old, on holiday in Campania, decided to leave a sign of his passage, writing with a marker the ancient stuccos of a house torn from the ashes of Vesuvius. A signature, with a black marker, one of those indelible ones. The young man will have to answer for damaging and defacing artistic works.
“Once again our cultural assets are victims of incivility and idiocy”, states the Minister of Culture, Gennaro Sangiuliano. “Only a few weeks ago – he recalls – the façade of the Royal Palace of the Royal Palace of Caserta was smeared with paint. Yesterday it was the turn of a Roman domus in the Herculaneum archaeological park, defaced by a tourist with a permanent marker. Every damage is a wound to our heritage, our beauty and our identity and this is why it must be sanctioned with the utmost firmness”, states Sangiuliano, thanking the “carabinieri for having immediately identified and reported the author of this vile gesture. I also remember that thanks to the law that I strongly supported – he underlines – this person will also have to pay for the restoration work of the work out of his own pocket”.
